Cast - "Beautiful" Music

Andrew here - Did you know that Little Women has the only orchestra on Broadway that is all acoustic?  Yup, not a single bit of electricity befouling our musical instruments.  I asked Jason Howland (composer and all around great guy, looks like James Marsden ((Cyclops from X-Men movies))) why he chose that and he said that it had been his vision from the beginning to write a musical that could be played they way they used to be played.  As someone who has listened to the score many a time, the purity of that vision comes across beautifully.

Speaking of beautiful, Bob Stattel (Mr. Laurence) said the thing that struck him most about the whole CD recording experience was how beautiful it was to see the orchestra again.  You know, since the show began, the orchestra and the cast don't get to see each other much.  The cast shows up at half-hour (or before) and goes upstairs, while the orchestra shows up (anytime before the start of the show((!))) and goes into the pit beneath the stage (no Golem images please). 

If you've never SEEN an orchestra play, then you're missing a beautiful sight.  Andrew Wilder (conductor) gets up there and as soon as he starts waving his arms the orchestra becomes a single organism, moving with each pulse of the music, its really a sight to behold.  You might even see our percussionist, Jim, over on the left, running around like a crazy person, playing the timps, marimba, glockenschpiel, chimes, bells, triangles, snares, and probably the kitchen sink.  I call him Vishnu, the Hindu god who has all the extra arms, because he could use another pair of arms for all the cues he has.

Varela out-